Mapping new forms of civic engagement in Europe

Stories about new forms of civic engagement and how they are pushing the boundaries of democratic practice in different countries across Europe.

One of the most important purposes of CitizensLab programme is to develop a better understanding of what is actually happening with citizen participation and civic engagement in Europe. The establishment of the CitizensLab network has provided a lot of information about the diversity of local initiatives, projects, movements, platforms and ideas that are being pursued around Europe.

The aim of this study is to document contemporary perspectives on civic engagement and citizen participation country by country, considering European tendencies and trends. Civil society experts from nine countries around Europe were asked to describe and discuss the situation of civic engagement in their country, to identify key movements and activists engaged in the civic scene, and to point out how civic actors are adapting to their changing national and European circumstances.

The countries include Croatia, France, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Organised as country profiles, each of the chapters of this study showcases innovative practices of civic engagement and citizen participation within its local and national context, and the discourses they are inspired by and are also producing.

These country profiles provide insight into specific local contexts and developments. Through the perspectives of the authors, for the most part activists themselves, readers can learn how broad and diverse civic engagement in Europe is today.

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CitizensLab is a self-organised community of practice currently hosted by the French organisation CRICAO. From 2016 until 2018 CitizensLab has been implemented by MitOst e.V. supported by Robert Bosch Stiftung, Stiftung Mercator, and European Cultural Foundation.